Ticket-clipping machine



July 27, 1926.

M. J. DUNFEY TICKET CLIPPING MACHINE lEiled March 10. '|924 i F.'Qg..Z.

(ZZW'H @ci Patented Julia?, 1926.-;

UNITED soN's confirm, snTTs.

MATTHEW a". numero? WATEBTWN, Mass'lacHUsE'rTs..l "AssIeNon' T0 WM, FILENES 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPDRATION 0F MASSACHU- Y ,'TxcxnT-GLIPPINGMACHINE.

Application am nai-c1; io, 1924. serial No.. 698,182.

In department stores and other large mercantile establishments it is customary to provide goods with tickets having duplicate portions, one portion being cut off and retained when the article is sold. The retained portion of .the ticket serves to maintain an automatic inventory and is also useful for reference when an article is returned for credit or exchange. Heretofore, it has been customary to cli thel tickets with a pair of Shears which as led to a number of difficulties. The clipped portions of the tickets frequently become lost, and in many cases the sales person fails t-o clip the ticket. In some cases the sales person acting in collusion with a customer wouldallow an article to be carried away without payment with a view to having the customer return the article at a later time for refund.

Objects of the present invention are to provide a machine which will assist in maintaining an automatic inventory, in prevent` ing thefts by sales persons vacting 1n collusion with customers, and generally to expedite the sales management of department stores and the like.y A

In one aspect, the present invention comprises a clipping machine having means for depositing the clipped portion of the ticket in a locked box so that the sales person has no access thereto. In another aspect, the invention comprises a clipper having an irregular cutting edge, that is, a clipping edge other than straight for cutting the tickets with a distinctive contour which would be diicult to imitate with a pair of scissors.

According to the preferred method of o eration, the wrapping or checkin clerk will` permit no article to be delivere to a customer unless the ticket on the article is cliped vin the aforesaid distinctive manner,

whereby no article can be delivered Without pa ment. The refund clerk will makefno re d unless the article returned bears a ticket cut in a distinctiveA manner peculiar* to the particular store,-sojthat'no refunds will be made except .in caseof bonafide rectly. l c 1 For the purpose of illustrating the genus;

of the present invention, one. concrete j embodiment is shown in the accompanying 4 drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine Fig. 2 is a side elevation; Fig. 3 is a section on line 3--3 of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a modified c ontour for the cutter.

The particular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose of illustration comprises'box B havin@r in the front thereof a locked door-D and 1n the top thereof a ticket receivingU opening O. Mounted in front 0f the opening by means of screws A is a stationary cutter S having a serrated cutting edge E. Extending upwardly from the rearward part of the top of the box is an integral bracket F having vertically spaced guides G in which a hand-operated p unger P reciprocates vertically, a spring H operating between the lower guide G and a collar lI upon the plunger P normally to hold the plungler in its uppermost position. shown inthe gures. On the lower end of the plunger P is a cutter C having a serrated als stop T, whereupon-the plunger P is given a sharp blow to cli `the ticket. Thev clippedy port1on of the tic et falls through-open1ng O into the box B and inasmuch as theopening O is substantially closed when the plunger is'depressed, it is limpossible for the- .sales .person-gtov prevent theA clipped ticket vided,-.with any :ff-irregular but distinctive 1 #1 Alm.. prisingfa box {zwingt} ing," a cuttingf'edgefcnfone side of the open- ,dipping1- aereas 60,5.' aticket'receiving open' l' o ing, a ticket stophon the opposite side of the opening, said sto being adjustable toward and from said e ge, and a cutter movable between saided e and stop to clip a ticket and deposit the c ipped portion through said opening into the box.

2. A lmachine for clipping tickets having a ticket o ening, an. irre lar cutting edge on vone si e of the opemng a .ticket stop spaced -from said edge, and an irregular cutter complemental to said edge movable between the edge and stop to clip .a ticket at a predetermined distance from the end engaging said stop, whereby tickets carry. y.

ing two sets of indicia lmay be distinctive cut intermediate the two sets. 3. A machine for clipping tickets carrying two sets of indicia comprising a stationary cutter having an yirre lar cutting edge and a movable cutter having a complet site sides of a ticket positioned with one end overlapping said opening, the cutter on the opening side of the ticket being disposed lonv .the side of the o ening from which the ticket is inserted an the other cutter beingv oposite the opening and both cutters extendsubstantially the full width of the tlc et, whereby the ticket may be cutfromv side to side' and the forward end deposited ters-extending from side to side of an inserted ticket, the upper cutter being opposite the opening an the lower cutter being dis osed on the side of the opening from whlch the ticket is inserted, the cutters havinpj non-rectilinear cutting edges shaped to cut the ticket along an outlinel diicult to imitate.

6. .A machine for clipping tickets comprising a box having a ticket receiving opening at least lsubstantially as wide as the ticket `and approximatelyA beneath the end of a ticket inserted for clipping, and cutters extending substantially the full width of an inserted. ticket on opposite sides of the ticket, whereby an inserted ticket may be severed from side to side and the forward end automatically de osited in said box.

Signed by me at oston, Massachusetts, thjis 23rd day'of February 1924.

, MATTHEW J .-DUN FEY. 

